Re: Being an editor - a personal take

[Keith Moore <moore@cs.utk.edu>]

Mark,

In addition to the "core duties" you proposed I would suggest 
an additional one: a document editor of a protocol specification 
has a responsibility to keep both the protocol and the 
specification "coherent".  In part this means defending the protocol 
against proposed changes which would add unnecessary complexity, or
weaken its applicability as a solution for the intended problem-space.

In other words, somebody needs to assume the role of chief protocol
architect, and that person usually ends up being the document editor.
Nothing says that the person who actually writes and assembles
the prose has to be the chief architect, but the chief architect 
should at least get credit for co-authoriship.

Keith